Jeremy Renner

BIOGRAPHY

It was 2009 when the world really stood up and noticed Jeremy Renner. That was the year that his role in Iraq war drama The Hurt Locker earned him over 18 different award nominations – an Academy Award nod included.

Some, though, may be surprised to learn the actor's career got started long before that, with numerous parts in well-known pictures.

Born in Modesto, California, on January 7 1971, to parents Valerie Cearley and Lee Renner, Jeremy Lee Renner grew up the eldest of five children.

After taking drama classes in college, he moved to Los Angeles in 1993 to pursue his acting dream. He earned his first silver screen role in Senior Trip – a teen movie about a group of rude and obnoxious students.

More parts in plays, TV series and films followed, but it wasn’t until 2001 that he moved from small to leading roles, playing the part of notorious serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer in Dahmer.

The positive reviews earned him a part in big-budget action film SWAT, alongside Samuel L Jackson and Colin Farrell.

After that he went on to star in films such as The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, alongside Brad Pitt, and horror sequel 28 Weeks Later.

He has made a habit of playing charismatic anti-heroes – an eighteenth-century vampire and a gun-toting alcoholic included.

A talented musician, he’s also performed on the soundtrack on some of his movies, including Charlize Theron vehicle North Country.

In 2009 he won the role of fearless bomb disposal expert SFC William James in Iraq war thriller The Hurt Locker .

The film was one of the most acclaimed movies of the year and received nine Oscar nominations.

Jeremy told of his shock at receiving his Academy Award nod for best actor.

“I never knew that I could feel so exhilarated as I did when I was six years old during Christmas, or going to Disneyland for the first time,” says the 37-year-old. “I never imagined this feeling coming back. It's an amazing high. It really is.”

“I had zero expectations. What got us through is that we all knew that we had a great script and we had amazing roles. I knew for me, specifically, I had the role of a lifetime," he said.